The theological enemy is marked by its failure to master the flesh.

Evidence

As such, Shylock could be said to constitute a peculiar body, one that is also devoid of body, devoid of flesh. In his famous monologue, Shylock needs in fact to insist that he does have a body, eyes, hands, organs, and more: “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions … ?” (MV, 3.1.51-52). Standing for the letter of the law, for a reading “according to the flesh,” Shylock seems to lack a reliable and convincing body-”I never felt it till now” (MV, 3.1.81-82). He stands for the embodiment of the law and justice while lacking both. “Is that the law?” he finally asks. The theological enemy is also the failure to master the flesh. Shylock simply doesn’t cut it. — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 543

Categorization

• XREF: This feeds the antisemitism-Islamophobia cluster: the Jew as spectrally bodiless/enemy-of-the-flesh versus the Moor’s embodiment is exactly the divide Anidjar bridges.